Monday 21 November 2011

What are the Biblical allusions in "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne?

Anis a
reference to a previous work of literature or art.

One Biblical allusion in
"" occurs in the following line:

So saying, he
threw it down at her [Goody Cloyse's] feet, where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the
rods which its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian Magi.


This alludes to Exodus 7:10-11. In this scene, the Egyptian magicians or Magi throw
down their staffs just as Aaron did, and the staffs (rods) become snakes:


When Pharaoh says to you, €˜Perform a miracle, then say to Aaron,
€˜Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake. . . . and the
Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts. (Exodus, 7-10-11)


It is notable that the rod thrown down is likened to the Egyptian
magis's staff. The magi would be practicing dark ("secret") arts and not performing a
miracle as Aaron does.

The word communion also occurs several times. While
we tend to think of communion as a church ritual, the...

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